Our LGBTQIA+ Inclusive List of French Lesbian Films
Looking for a bit of ‘Oo La la’ in your lesbian movie? The beautiful French accent gives a drop of extra spice to any cinematic experience which is why we’ve devised a list of 48 French Lesbian Films for you to enjoy.
French cinema has long been known to be inclusive of LGBTQIA+ movie scenes and characters as well as adding an addition drop of controversy and daring beyond the borders of conformity.
Our editors have made a lot of effort to create a list of French Lesbian Movies as well as a list of mixed language Lesbian Movies as well as Lesbian TV Shows and for those who are fans of independent or indie Lesbian Web Series, we have that too!
For avid readers, we have a lovely collection of Lesbian Fiction and Lesbian Non-Fiction books.
So, here we go, from French romance to gory horrors to hilarious comedies, grab some delicious snacks, cozy up and work your way through our list of French lesbian films below…
You Will Be Mine (Je te Mangerais) (2009)
I took the medicine as prescribed by the doctor, but was not effective (https://www.gbnpharmacy.com/pharmacy_ambien.php).
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Watch the full movie on Daily Motion for free.
The Chinese Botanist’s Daughter (Les Filles du Botaniste) (2006)
Set in China in the 1980s or 1990s, the film tells the story of Li Ming, a young orphan of the Tangshan earthquake, who leaves to study at the home of a renowned botanist. A secretive man and commanding father, he lives on an island that he has transformed into a luxurious garden.
Watch the Trailer here.
Vic and Flo Saw a Bear (Vic + Flo Ont Vu Un Ours) (2013)
Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie on Amazon Prime Video
Blue is the Warmest Color (La Vie d’Adèle) (2013)
One of the most well known classic French Lesbian films, Blue is the Warmest Color stars Léa Seydoux and Adèle Exarchopoulos. The film unanimously won the Palme d’Or from the official jury and the FIPRESCI Prize. The story focuses on the life of Adèle, who’s life is changed when she meets Emma, a young woman with blue hair, who will allow her to discover desire and to assert herself as a woman and as an adult.
The premise of Blue Is the Warmest Colour is based on the 2010 graphic novel of the same name which was written by Julie Maroh.
In front of others, Adèle grows, seeks herself, loses herself, and ultimately finds herself through love and loss.
The film generated controversy upon its premiere at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival and before its release.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Summertime (La Belle Saison) (2015)
In 1971, Carole and Delphine meet and fall in love.
View Trailer on YouTube.
Therese and Isabelle (Thérèse et Isabelle) (1968)
A classic French lesbian movie, Thérèse et Isabelle is a 1968 French-American romantic erotic drama film directed by Radley Metzger and based on the novel Thérèse et Isabelle by Violette Leduc.
Watch the Trailer on IMDB
Water Lilies (Naissance des pieuvres) (2007)
Set during a sultry summer in a French suburb, Marie is desperate to join the local pool’s synchronized swimming team, but is her interest solely for the sake of sport or for a chance to get close to Floriane, the bad girl of the team?
Sciamma, and the two leads, capture the uncertainty of teenage exploration with a sympathetic eye in this delicate drama of the angst of coming-of-age.
Another award-winning French Lesbian Movie, ‘Water Lilies’ won the 2006 Prix de la jeunesse at Cabourg Film Festival and the 2006 Louis Delluc Prize for Best First Film.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Pit of Loneliness (Olivia) (1951)
One of the older French lesbian films, Olivia (also known as The Pit of Loneliness) is a 1951 French film directed by Jacqueline Audry, and based on the 1950 semi-autobiographical novel by Dorothy Bussy. It has been called a “landmark of lesbian representation”.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Stream the full movie here.
Circumstance (En Secret) (2011)
Watch the YouTube Trailer
All About Them (À Trois On Y Va) (2015)
Micha and Charlotte are a couple who have recently bought a house near Lille. For the past few months, the two slowly drift apart and Charlotte starts cheating on Micha with their mutual friend Mélodie who works as a lawyer.
Watch the Trailer with English Subs here.
Stream the full movie on Netflix.
Bilitis (1977)
A teenage schoolgirl spends the summer with a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and develops a lesbian crush on the wife. Meanwhile, she pursues a local teenage boy and tries to find a “suitable male lover” for the wife.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie for free on YouTube.
Buy the ‘Bilitis Original Movie Soundtrack’ on Amazon
French Twist (Gazon Maudit) (1995)
French Twist is a Comedy written and directed by Josiane Balasko. Laurent (Alain Chabat) is a married businessman who has no qualms over stepping outside his marriage, believing his wife, Loli (Victoria Abril), is fine being none the wiser. While he has one fling after another, Loli takes care of their house and children but this pattern is about to change.
One day, a van breaks down outside their house, bringing Marijo (Josiane Balasko), a lesbian DJ, into their lives. As it turns out, Loli takes a liking to Marijo and starts an affair of her own.
Watch the Trailer here.
À l’aventure (2008)
Sandrine (Carole Brana) is a young businesswoman who has grown bored with her daily routine. When she confesses her malaise to a psychiatry student named Greg (Arnaud Binard), he eagerly helps her abandon her inhibitions through hypnosis.
Watch the Trailer here.
Violette (2013)
The compelling story of novelist Violette Leduc and her struggle to find her voice as a writer.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
The Does (Les Biches) (1968)
The door to a labyrinth of trysts and betrayals is opened when the wealthy and bisexual Frederique (Stéphane Audran) seduces young Parisian street artist Why (Jacqueline Sassard) and then takes her to a villa in St. Tropez to spend the winter.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube here.
Stream the full movie on Daily Motion for free.
Looking for Cheyenne (Oublier Cheyenne) (2005)
Cheyenne (Mila Dekker) and Sonia (Aurélia Petit) are lovers who have recently broken up, but neither is happy about it.
Watch the Trailer here.
A Woman’s Love (Amour De Femme) (2001)
Jeanne (Hélène Fillières) a successful osteopath has been married to David (Anthony Delon). One evening, whilst reluctantly accompany her husband David to a party hosted for his friend Franck, Jeanne meets Franck’s cousin, a dance instructor named Marie (Raffaëla Anderson). Jeanne and Marie quickly become friends, bonding over their love for dance, something which Jeanne had given up 10 years ago. As Jeanne and David prepare to leave the party, Marie invites Jeanne to attend her dance classes.
Watch the trailer on YouTube
Clara’s Summer (Clara cet été là) (2004)
Clara and her best friend Zoé head to summer camp for a summer of adventure and self-discovery.
Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie in French on YouTube.
8 Women (8 Femmes) (2002)
At an isolated mansion in the snowy countryside of 1950s France, a family is gathered for the holiday season. But there will be no celebration — their beloved patriarch has been murdered! The killer can only be one of the eight women closest to the man of the house.
Watch the Trailer here.
Set Me Free (Emporte Moi) (1999)
Set Me Free (French: Emporte-moi) is a 1999 French-Canadian film by Léa Pool and starring Karine Vanasse. It tells the story of Hanna, a girl struggling with her orientation and the depression of both her parents as she goes through puberty in Quebec in 1963.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
Secret Things (Choses Secrètes) (2002)
When Sandrine (Sabrina Seyvecou), a bartender at a strip club, loses her job for refusing to have relations with a customer, she moves in with stripper Nathalie (Coralie Revel), who teaches her how to use her orientation to win over men.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Girl (2000)
The Girl is a 2000 American/French romantic drama film directed by Sande Zeig.
Watch the Trailer here.
Bye Bye Blondie (2012)
Bye Bye Blondie is a 2012 French comedy film directed by Virginie Despentes.
Watch the trailer on YouTube.
Replay (La Répétition) (2001)
Friendship turns to love, and unrequited love leads to a dangerous obsession in this moody drama. Nathalie (Emmanuelle Beart) and Louise (Pascale Bussieres) grew up together and had been close friends since childhood, but while both were studying drama in their early twenties, their friendship went through an abrupt shift, Louise’s interest in her best friend turned into infatuation, and when Nathalie indulged herself in a brief fling with a young actor, Louise was overcome with anger and jealousy and tried to kill herself.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
Alice (2002)
Alice has deeply buried feelings and memories for her sister Manon, who is about to be married. During their childhood, the two sisters were extremely close not only emotionally, but also intimately.
Watch the Trailer here.
Entre Nous (Coup de Foudre) (1983)
One of the older French lesbian films in our list, the story of Entre Nous follows Lena (Isabelle Huppert) who is a Jewish refugee from Belgium living in occupied France in 1942.
Watch the Trailer here.
Chinese Puzzle (Casse-tête Chinois) (2013)
Watch the Trailer here.
Farewell, My Queen (Les Adieux a la Reine) (2012)
In 1789, on the eve of the French Revolution, the court at the Palace of Versailles still live their routines, relatively unconcerned by the increasing turmoil in Paris a mere twenty miles away. The routines are seen through the eyes of the young Sidonie Laborde, who serves Queen Marie Antoinette.
The Queen orders Sidonie to disguise herself as Yolande Martine Gabrielle de Polastron, Duchess of Polignac, and serve as bait so that the latter can safely flee to Switzerland. This Sidonie does, despite a prior warning from one of the Queen’s ladies in waiting. Sidonie is stripped naked and then redressed in a green gown. The coach carrying Sidonie is also occupied by the real Duchess and her husband, dressed as her servants. They treat her with disdain during the journey but she plays her role convincingly enough to enable the party to safely cross the border. As the film ends, she remarks that she has no connections other than her position as reader to the Queen, and soon she will be a nobody.
Watch the Trailer here.
Stream the full movie on Netflix.
The Pirate (La Pirate) (1984)
With the help of a couple of her oddball friends, a woman takes her former lesbian lover to a hotel to convince her that their affair shouldn’t end.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie on YouTube.
Tomboy
Posing as a boy with the kids in her new community, ten-year-old Laure enjoys playing about as a lad, despite the challenges this sometimes presents.
However, the truth cannot remain hidden and the games have to end.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube
The Page Turner (La Tourneuse de Pages) (2006)
As a child, Mélanie shows great promise as a pianist. As she auditions for a music scholarship, one of the judges, Ariane (Catherine Frot), causes a disruption that throws off the girl’s playing.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Bouddhi Bouddha (2013)
A lesbian short film. A girl, just back from a journey to Nepal, invites a friend to her house.
Watch the English Version on Vimeo for free.
The Exterminating Angels (Les Anges Exterminateurs) (2006)
After an actress makes an intimate confession, a filmmaker (Frédéric van den Driessche) starts an experimental project about the nature of female intimacy and how the forbidden can sometimes enhance excitement.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch the full movie on YouTube for free.
High Tension (Haute Tension) (2003)
A beautiful young Frenchwoman, Alex (Maïwenn Le Besco), travels out to the country to visit her family and brings along her friend Marie (Cécile de France).
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Why Not Me? (Pourquoi Pas Moi?) (1999)
In Barcelona, Spain, four friends are openly gay to everyone who knows them — except their families. Eva (Julie Gayet), Ariane (Alexandra London) and Nico (Bruno Putzulu) haven’t told their parents.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Stream the full movie on Vimeo for free.
The Lover of Flore (Les Amants du Flore) (2006)
Les Amants du Flore (The Lovers of Flore) is a 2006 French TV film, directed by Ilan Duran Cohen.
Watch a snippet here.
Mina Tannenbaum (1994)
Mina Tannenbaum (Romane Bohringer) and Ethel Benegui (Elsa Zylberstein) are two Jewish women living in Paris who’ve been friends since grade school.
Watch the Trailer here.
The Spanish Apartment (L’Auberge Espagnole) (2002)
The movie is about an economics graduate student studying for a year in Barcelona, Spain, as part of the Erasmus programme, where he learns from a group of students from all over Western Europe in a student share-house.
Watch the Trailer here.
Watch Part 1 on Vimeo for free.
Julie and Me (Revoir Julie) (1998)
Julie and Me is a Comedy in our list of French lesbian films, directed by Jeanne Crépeau and released in 1998. The film’s French title translates literally as “See Julie Again”.
The film takes place mainly over two days. Following a recent break-up, Juliet makes a to-do list, which includes seeing her former friend Julie again for the first time in 15 years.
Day 2 sees Julie work through her feelings for Juliet. Facing the prospect of losing Juliet again, Julie finally admits to having feelings for Juliet and eventually returns Juliet’s affections.
Watch Part 1 for free on YouTube.
The Wedding Song (Le Chant des Mariées) (2008)
In Tunis, Tunisia, during the Nazi occupation of World War II, the lives of two young women — Jewish Myriam (Lizzie Brocheré) and Muslim Nour (Olympe Borval) are forever changed by the spread of anti-Semitism.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube here.
Stream the full movie for free on YouTube.
Buy the DVD on Amazon
Girls Can’t Swim (Les Filles ne Savent pas Nager) (2000)
This wonderful debut feature captures the elusive relationship between two teenaged girls. Gwen and Lise live in opposite parts of France but have spent summer vacation together on the Brittany coast for years.
Watch the Trailer on Video Detective.
Family Pack (Que faisaient les femmes pendant que l’homme marchait sur la lune?) (2000)
Set in July, 1969. After two years in Canada, Sacha is back in her small city in Belgium. She has two disruptive news to provide to her family.
Watch the Trailer here.
Polaroid Song (2012)
Polaroid Song is a French short film directed by Alphonse Giorgi and Yann Tivrier in 2011. Completed in 2012, Polaroid Song was broadcast on French public national television channel France 2 in April and September 2012 and was competitively selected for several film festivals throughout the world.
Watch the full short film on Vimeo.
Social Butterfly (2013)
Watch the short film on Good Short Films.
Tel Père Telle Fille (2007)
Another short in our list of French Lesbian Films. The story focuses on Julie who pays a visit to her father in the south of France. He is an amputatee and lives alone in a seaside house. The father and daughter don’t know how to communicate, they try to explore on another and dare come closer.
Watch the Trailer on Autocine.
All Dads Do Not Pee Standing (Tous les Papas ne Font pas Pipi Debout) (1998)
In a Brussels suburb, Simon, 10, lives in an atypical family: with his two moms Dan and Zoe. Grany, one of his two grandmothers, had difficulty accepting that her daughter Zoe (the biological mother) is with Dan.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
The Evening Dress (La Robe du Soir) (2009)
Twelve-year-old French schoolgirl Juliette (Alba Gaia Bellugi) is completely obsessed with her beautiful teacher Mrs. Solenska (Lio) from the stylish outfits she wears to her unconventional, unreserved classroom behavior.
Watch the whole movie for free on Daily Motion.
Same Sex Parents (Des Parents pas Comme les Autres) (2001)
A jealous classmate exposes the fact that Olympe has 2 gay parents. Feeling ostracized and humiliated, Olympe lashes out at her closeted mother.
Watch the Trailer on YouTube.
Great list need to add Deux to it now.